Yellow is hot right now, and Toni + Matt  (with help from planner extraordinaire Ashley Baber) used the color just right at their King Plow reception.  The bright pops of sunny yellow in the florals (Bold American) and candy bar again crisp B&W make me really happy.  Celso’s Cakes, Inc. succeeded in making the couple’s square three-tiered confection modish yet still elegant –often easier said than done!  Visit Altmix Photography’s blog post for more photos.

Describe your wedding flowers: Two words: Steve Bales. His vision and creativity is truly a gift.  We had so much fun with the flowers! I knew I wanted yellow for the central color, and black and white for accent colors.  We chose calla lilies, spider mums, tulips, roses, forsythia, carnations and more. They were amazing, and I was so happy with the final product!
Describe your wedding cake: Our wedding cake was a three-tiered red velvet cake with buttercream icing and strawberries. It was yummy!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Walking down the aisle. My father and I are very close and it was hard for me to let go of him until I saw Matt at the end of the aisle. A sort of peace came over me when I saw him waiting for me, and I’ll never forget it. I was ready. It was a precious moment for me.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  Organizing and decorating our house, and hopefully being blessed with lots of babies!

Congratulations to the happy newlyweds!

Anyone else think Toni’s ruffled Monique Lhuillier gown looks an awful lot like this M.L. beauty that graced the streets of LA last year?  So dreamy!  The bridesmaids short, chic cocktail dresses (J. Crew) are a fun contrast to the bride’s ethereal gown, and the bright white tulip blooms (courtesy of the talented Steve Bales at Bold American) really seals the deal for me.  Planner Ashley Baber coordinated + designed hte Atlanta event, while Altmix Photography was on-hand to capture all her handiwork.  Come back soon for all the reception deets!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  We met in Dallas , Texas in 2007. There were instant sparks and we dated in Dallas for about a year before Matt took a job in Atlanta. I always told myself that I would never move for a guy, but this felt different so I took a chance and moved back to Atlanta. Thank goodness it worked out!
Describe the proposal: My parents live in Alaska, and Matt had never been there before. We planned a summer vacation, but it turned out that Matt had much bigger plans in mind. He had coffee with my dad the day after we arrived and asked him for his blessing. Two days later, we went to a remote bear park called Katmai in western Alaska. There, at the main viewing platform in front of a bunch of tourists with cameras, he popped the question. He gave our camera to a woman from New Jersey and asked her to take a picture: “Take a bunch,” he said, “Just keep shooting!” He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. We have a bunch of pictures from the proposal and they all have bears in them!
Three adjectives that describe the wedding day are: Romantic, emotional and perfect.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Ummm, can I say everything? If I had to choose one, it would the band. The Tip Tops are based out of Montgomery, AL and are wild. We loved them!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: The Dress, the dress, the dress! The first thing I did was establish a budget. The second was find a dress. I remember looking online at Monique Lhuillier and I saw one that really caught my eye. It was called “Sunday Rose.” When I retuned home from Alaska, I had dinner with a few girlfriends. One of my friends works at Impressions, and I was explaining the dress to her and how much I loved it.  Turns out, the dress was on display in their store!  We drove over to see it and I was done. It was the only dress I tried on.

Hey y’all!  Katharine and I had a fabulous time meeting readers and bees at Foster’s Market last month!  We lucked out with a sunny day, and filled three picnic tables with wedding chatter and delicious food for more than two hours.  Mrs. Pineapple, Mrs. Bunny, and Mrs. Lamb were in attendance, as well as ten or so other lovely ladies.  My boyfriend John and Katharine’s fiance Kyle also tagged along, and I think had fun in spite of themselves (though their presence did throw off the first few readers to arrive!).  Big thanks to Bunny and Lamb for the photos!

One of the guests, Emily, was getting married two weeks from our Saturday meetup!  Coincidentally, her photographer, Nancy Ray, had just submitted her bridals for a blog feature the week before.  I thought it would be fun to share a few as part of our recap. 

And, just for kicks, a few from her engagement shoot, because it was super cute:

Fun fact: there were THREE Emilys at the meetup, and we were sitting in a triangle for most of the morning.   Other (REALLY) fun fact: somehow during the conversation, Mrs. Bunny and I realized that our fathers had graduated in the same class from the United States Coast Guard Academy!  I called up my Dad, who immediately knew exactly who Mrs. Bunny’s father is, and, in fact, told me that they stood just one person apart in alphabetical order throughout their four years.  Crazy, huh?

Everyone in attendance agreed that it would be fun to do something similar for the next SW issue release, so plan for a low key Chapel Hill soiree in August, ladies and gents!  Gelato and cupcakes at Sugarland, anyone?

Anyone else loving our little Tuesday engagement session series?  I sure am, and when I saw Lindsey + Daniel’s “love shoot” on Millie Holloman’s blog, I knew we had to add it to the mix!  MHP’s Amanda + Brent ar the husband-wife genius behind these shots, and Lindsey and Amanda collaborated on many of the adorable details.  Read on for the insanely-cute inspiration behind this shoot!

For the shoot, Amanda and I had the idea of “being on cloud nine” when you’re first falling in love and all of the beautiful feelings that come with it.  We wanted to create a whimsical world that demonstrated this, while pulling in a lot of cute, handmade elements.

I run a hairpiece and handmade business called Blackbirdblue on Etsy, so we felt the home-crafted feel was a perfect tie-in.  We started piecing together puffy clouds from cotton and yarn, and the next thing we knew we not only had clouds floating from the ceiling, but an entire yarn chandelier!  It was cozy, airy, and whimsical — just as we had hoped it would be.  We spent the afternoon cuddling, jumping on the bed to our favorite music, and, of course, reading lots of silly books, such as “10 Things to do with a Fake Moustache.”  (I’m a collector of quirky books, art zines, and moustaches, so when Daniel bought this book for me for my birthday, we knew we couldn’t shoot without it!)

Daniel and I wanted to be comfortable jumping about, dancing, and just being silly together, so our outfits were simple.  He’s a musician and keeps a large stock of v-necks and skinnies on hand, while I have endless amounts of cotton dresses and rompers.

For the second part of the shoot, Amanda and I were inspired by a photo of a cute couple standing in front of a wall of cut-out hearts.  Not only did this idea tie into our handmade aesthetic, but we did the shoot right around my birthday and thus ended up with the fun idea of heart balloons!  We collaged our hearts onto a wall, added yarn strings to all of them, and each of us took a handful!  It was colorful, playful, and fun.

For this part of the shoot, Daniel and I wanted to have a bit more fun with dressing up, so he put on his favorite suspenders, and I wore two of my favorite things — a bow and a vintage-patterned dress!  We spent the afternoon in tucked-away backyards and gardens, kissing and laughing until the sun went down.

We ended our night in the best way possible — throwing all of our hearts into the sky as confetti, and completely surrounded by love.

We know, we know: you love real weddings.  With a passion.  In fact, you love them almost as much as we do – which is really saying something.  Because real weddings make you happy – and because we want to make you happy! – we’ve picked some of our favorite real Southern weddings from the November issue.   As an added bonus, we’ve included never-before-seen shots from the couples’ big day you won’t even find in the mag.

First up is Aubrie + Josh, photographed by our North Carolina neighbors at Kim Box Photography.  When a model (Aubrie is the Deal or No Deal stunner who holds case number 23) marries a rock star (Josh plays for the international rock band, Trust Company), it’s understood that their wedding celebration is going to be a scene-stealer. Engaged just eight months later, Aubrie + Josh took long-distance wedding planning to a new level, flying back and forth from L.A. to the groom’s hometown of Montgomery, Alabama once every two weeks. 

The bride’s middle name (“Lemon”) served as the design inspiration for the star-couple’s yellow-infused nuptials at the historic Oaks Plantation.  Everything from the hand-drawn sketch of a lemon tree on their letterpress invitations to the lemon-colored dresses Aubrie’s bridesmaids selected played up the bride’s cheerful middle name. 

One thing the happy couple couldn’t plan on?  The string of flash flood and tornado warnings that plagued Alabama in the four days leading up to their wedding.  Luckily, the sun broke just in time for Aubrie, in a gown from David’s Bridal, and Josh to exchange their vows beneath the groom’s favorite oak tree.  The outdoor ceremony was officiated by the bride’s grandfather.  How sweet – and Southern! – is that?

For their reception, the newlyweds attempted to preserve the relaxed, home-spun feel of their outdoor ceremony with a tented reception on sprawling lawns.  Aubrie + Josh’s take on the post-I do’s?  “Our reception, in a word, was fun!”  In lieu of a traditional wedding cake, the bride + groom treated guests to fresh summer cupcakes from Icing Illusions and a candy bar, replete with an old-fashioned cotton candy machine.  Talk about a sweet ending!

Fun fact: Aubrie + new hubby, Josh, came all the way out to Atlanta to attend our November launch party!  They were our second real wedding couple to attend a launch party, and were just as adorable – and gorgeous – in person.

Credits: Photographer KimBox Photography; Planner Southern Wedding Designs; Venue The Oaks Plantation; Tent and Rentals American Rental and Tent Company; Florist Southern Wedding Designs; Wedding Cake Baker Icing Illusions; Caterer Marchelle’s; Bride’s Dress David’s Bridal; Accessories Bel Aire Bridal; Hair & Makeup Christine Colucci of Makeup Mafia; Reception Music Just a Few Cats.

As a reminder, NONE of these photos are featured in the latest issue!  Snag your copy now to see the rest of the goodness!